The negotiators of the European Parliament and of Advice They agreed this morning on budget of the European Union (EU) for the year 2025focused on reinforcing the main priorities of the block in “a difficult geopolitical context”.
The agreed accounts provide for a total of 199,438.4 million euros of expenditurewhich include the “financing needed for reconstruction in countries affected by natural disasters”.
“We have agreed on a balanced budget “which gives us the means to comply with the EU’s priority areas always with the interest of taxpayers in mind”, highlighted the chief negotiator of the Council and Minister of State of Hungary, Peter Banaias published by the block in a statement.
Banai highlighted that the agreed budget “guarantees a prudent stance with sufficient financial margin to respond to unforeseen events”.
“It is a realistic approach taking into account the current economic and geopolitical context.”, he stressed.
Specifically, the budget leaves 800.5 million euros unallocated below the spending ceiling set within the 2021-2027 plan and that could be allocated to “unforeseen needs”.
Besides, It represents an increase of about 10,000 million euros with respect to the budget approved for 2024. Part of this increase will go to the European Civil Protection Mechanism proposed by the Commission to respond to emergencies and natural disasters.
Now the European Parliament and the Council They have 14 days to formally approve the budget agreement. The Council is scheduled to do so on November 25, when it must achieve a qualified majority.
This is the fifth annual budget agreed under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and is complemented by the NextGenerationEU funds, created to support economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning of the month, the plenary session of the European Parliament had requested a budget of almost 201,000 million euros for the European Union in 2025, which meant 1,240 million more that the proposal presented by the European Commission last June, thus rejecting the cut of 1,520 million euros raised by the Twenty-Seven.
Fixing the position of the European Chamber began three weeks of conciliation talks with the Council, with the aim of reaching an agreement between the two institutions in time for next year’s budget, which must be adopted by the European Parliament before the end of the year.
Parliament wants to promote vital programs to address health challenges, support young people, agriculture and rural areas, help people suffering from natural disasters, boost climate action, manage migration and security needs and strengthen EU support for neighboring regions experiencing geopolitical and humanitarian crises, for which payment credits have been set at 153.5 billion euros.
On the other hand, MEPs consider that the repayment costs of the European Recovery Instrument (EUURI), which are double what was initially planned for 2025, should not translate into a reduction in funding for essential programs, such as Erasmus+ or R+. d.
(With information from agencies)
